


The Journey Home

by kittleimp



Category: The Bright Sessions (Podcast)
Genre: Character Study, Episode 24-36, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-21 04:55:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14908740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittleimp/pseuds/kittleimp
Summary: At first, Damien seems like the knight in shining armor that he claimed to be. He was the first thing Mark saw when he opened his eyes, dragged him out of bed, and all but carried him to their escape car. What could he be other than a savior?Well, a liar, for one.





	The Journey Home

**Author's Note:**

> This is mostly a character study to get a feel for writing Mark. I definitely have more to say with these two. This contains references to Episodes 24-36.
> 
> Edited by the delightful [dragonbandit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonbandit/).

At first, Damien seems like the knight in shining armor that he claimed to be. He was the first thing Mark saw when he opened his eyes, dragged him out of bed, and all but carried him to their escape car. What could he be other than a savior?

Well, a liar, for one. Mark’s memory may be fuzzy, especially at the start, but it isn’t that hard to figure out that Damien isn’t being entirely honest with him.

Sam is a figment of his imagination -- that’s not true; Mark is sure of it almost immediately. After almost two years of feeling nothing and having no one, seeing Sam was a breath of fresh air that he couldn’t have made up. Damien might be telling the truth about not knowing her. It is still annoying that he insists that she isn’t real, though.

Joanie would turn him in -- he can’t bring himself to believe that, he won’t even entertain the possibility. However, the possibility of Joanie still being in contact with the AM eats at him in the rare moments of silence when Damien allows him to retreat into his own head. It would be easy to insist that she wouldn’t, but he doesn’t know his sister well enough anymore to know for sure.

Damien did this alone out of the goodness of his heart -- not a chance. Not even close. First, it is painfully obvious that no matter why he broke Mark out, he desperately wants Mark’s powers to come back. It seems like he wants a friend, or maybe someone who understands him, but definitely at least some companionship. Second, Damien doesn’t do things just because he’s nice. He’s not even nice to start with.

Which leads Mark to the biggest question so far: who was Damien working with?

Probably not Sam. Damien really seems to know nothing about her or the time she spent with Mark in 1810. What about Dr. Bright, whoever they are? Can he trust that Damien truly has never heard of them? Probably not.

It isn’t that Damien is actually that bad, even if he does push his wants onto everyone he meets. In fact, over the months that they spend on the road together, Mark finds that he’s enjoying their trip and Damien’s companionship without being forced to. Still, Mark’s distrust grows. Damien keeps him holed up in hotel rooms when they aren’t driving. Eventually, the excuse of laying low to avoid the AM’s all-seeing eye becomes less and less believable. Mark begins to suspect that they are running from something else. Or that Damien is just scared that he will run off. He manages his first real piece of information two months in by blocking Damien into the cramped motel bathroom.

“What the fuck, Mark?” Damien asks, still shirtless and dripping from his shower with a towel wrapped around his waist.

“Bullshit you got me out on your own,” Mark says flatly. He keeps his eyes locked on Damien’s eyes because otherwise he might have to look at his chest. “You had help. Who?”

Damien blinks and falls silent for just a heartbeat too long, just long enough to destroy any doubts that Mark was having.

“I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you,” Damien replies with a smirk, making good use of his signature sarcasm, then tries to push past Mark to leave the bathroom. He steps back with a heavy sigh when Mark refuses to budge. “I got information from some people who weren’t very trustworthy. It was reliable enough to get to you, but I don’t trust them beyond that and so I haven’t been in contact with them.”

“Was it Sam?”

“No, I really don’t know who that is,” Damien insists. “Can I please put some pants on if you’re going to interrogate me about shit that doesn’t matter?”

Mark presses his lips into a thin line, but stands aside. It doesn’t take an expert to know that Damien isn’t going to give up anything else for a while. He still counts the conversation as a victory.

The next victory comes a month later when Damien leaves to get barbecue and leaves his phone behind on the table. Mark has seen him enter the passcode from across the room hundreds of times by now, so it doesn’t take more than a few tries to figure out the numbers that match up with the tapping he remembers and then he’s in. For a moment Mark freezes and tries to decide what to do next.

The first thing he tries is searching through Damien’s calendar. If he’s lucky, Damien will be the sort to put his appointments in his phone for an easy reminder. Scrolling back a few months reveals very little, as if he hardly had any scheduled appointments, but the farther he goes the more appointments he finds. Every last one is listed as “Therapy - Dr. Bright” and Mark’s stomach lurches.

A google search for Joan Bryant doesn’t bring up any recent search results, which is odd considering that Damien claims he’s her patient and suspicious considering Damien’s appointments are supposed to be with the very doctor Mark has been wondering about for months. What it does bring up, however, is an entry in Damien’s contacts. Three phone numbers. Two addresses. Some understandable, such as what seems to be the number and address for her practice, and others more disturbing to see. Home phone. Cell phone. Fuck, even her home address.

Heart racing, Damien taps to call his sister’s cellphone, praying to a god who hasn’t been showing him much mercy anyway that she might answer. It goes to voicemail.

“You’ve reached the voicemail of Dr. Joan Bright,” declares his sister’s voice, punching the air out of him with its familiarity. “If this is to schedule an appointment, please press one to speak to Sarah. Otherwise, please leave your name, number, and a brief message after the tone.”

Everything falls apart from there - or falls into place, depending on which of them you ask. The argument is cathartic in a way, a release of pressure built up over the months they’ve been sharing space, but everything that followed is… worse. Better and worse at the same time. Talking to Joan again, hearing Sam’s voice, it is a weight off of his shoulder that he feared might never be lifted, but... Damien.

Mark watches Damien go through the stages of grief with guilt hanging heavily right where his longing for home has just fallen away. With his stolen power, Mark can feel Damien trying to push at the edges of his mind and reach out to others, but they are always just out of reach. The only victim of his anger is the phone that he destroys in a petty attempt to make things harder on Mark, but that is quickly followed by a leap right past bargaining into depression. 

No matter how much he tries to ignore it, Mark struggles with seeing Damien so helpless. On one hand, Mark absolutely revels in the fact that the man who has dragged so many painful secrets out of him and kept him locked away is getting a taste of his own manipulation. Unfortunately, Mark is also discovering exactly how many of his thoughts were actually his own the whole time. The amount is surprisingly high. Each one is shoved to the side for examination… someday. Maybe when they get home. Maybe never.

Damien is still staring, empty-eyed and silent, out the passenger window of the car when they pull into the parking lot of Joan’s building. He follows when Mark climbs out because Mark wants him to, despite the curl of guilt in his gut. They arrive inside just in time to hear Joan and Sam talking to another girl - Chloe - and Mark nearly forgets about Damien in the overwhelming excitement. Then Sam nearly breaks Damien’s nose, Caleb shows up, and everything gets a hell of a lot more complicated. He needs a nap.

Finally, after years and months of two very different imprisonments, Mark is moved into his sister’s guest room and recovering. The AM is leaving him alone and if he doesn’t want to, he will never have to see Damien’s lying, manipulative face again. It should be a relief. Should be.

It isn’t.

**Author's Note:**

> If I were to write a sequel, there'd be a happy ending for the boys. Stay tuned, I'm a sucker for fluff and functionally dysfunctional relationships, so there will be more of this.
> 
> Come shout at me about TBS and damiark on tumblr at [byronmarkbryant](https://byronmarkbryant.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
